Stay With Me
by xCookie93
Summary: On September 11, 2001, Chandler may face losing Joey. Chanoey slash. Rated M for 9/11 theme.
1. Chapter 1

Stay With Me (chapter 1)

Joey/Chandler (Friends)

Entering his office, Chandler smacked down the morning's newspaper onto his desk. A long day was ahead.

He walked across the office floor and to the window, enjoying the view of South Manhattan while sipping on his coffee. The morning was bright and sunny. He could just manage to see the Statue of Liberty in the distant, a small dot watching over New York City.

Suddenly, something appeared in the sky, something that was not supposed to be there. It looked like a bird.

Chandler slightly jumped when he realized it was a plane, and before he had any time to linger on anything, the plane crashed directly into one of the Twin Towers, sending out a cloud of smoke. His heart sank, and he found himself staring.

"No..."

Only one thought went through his mind. _Joey._

He nearly dropped the coffee cup on the floor, when he quickly reached in his pocket and slipped his cell phone open, speed dialing Joey.

He kept staring out of the window, waiting. The seconds suddenly felt long.

_Pick up, pick up... Please, pick up._

There was a click in the other end of the line.

"_You're lucky. We've just fin-"_

"Joey? Are you still at the Center?" Chandler didn't take his eyes off the northern tower.

"_Yeah?"_

"You're not in the northern tower, are you?"

"_Nope, south. Why?"_

"The..." Chandler had to pull himself together to say the words. "The northern tower... A plane just flew directly into it!"

Joey went silent for a brief moment, probably chocked.

"_Tell me you're kidding."_

"I'm not kidding!" Chandler almost went angry in a snap.

"_I'm just gonna take a look. Hold on..."_ There was some noise in the background that Chandler couldn't make sense of, but he heard voices. _"Oh god..."_ Joey was back. _"What the hell's going on?" _

"I don't know. Look, just stay inside-"

"_You think I would actually go out there?"_

"No, no..." Chandler shook his head. He felt confused. He couldn't believe what he was watching. The beautiful morning sky suddenly had this huge cloud of smoke stuck in the middle of it. This was bad. _So many people are stuck up there now..._

"_Chandler?"_

He snapped back to reality when he heard Joey's voice again.

"Sorry, I spaced out for a moment," he said, rubbing his forehead and still not taking his eyes off the building which was so far away. "This is unbelievable..."

Another bird suddenly appeared out of nowhere, and this time Chandler smacked his hand up against the window.

"Oh my god!" He watched as the second plane hit the other tower.

"_Shit! What the hell was that?" _

Chandler realized Joey was still on the phone.

"Joe, get out of the building!" He felt himself tremble. "Another plane just went into it! Which floor are you on?" His words came out quicker than ever. He just hoped Joey had made sense of them.

"_Crap, everything's shaking!"_

"Joey, which floor?"

"_Um... 61."_

By looking at the building, Chandler attempted to reckon up the floors, trying to find out which floor the plane had hit. He knew how many floors those huge towers had.

"Alright, I think it hit above you. I hope it did..."

He heard screams and a lot of noise in Joey's end of the line.

"_We were just informed that it hit around 80," _Joey then said.

"Oh god, Joe... There's a goddamn burning hole up there! In both of them! Stay on the phone, okay? Don't hang up." Chandler was one wreck of emotions.

"_But, Chandler-"_

"I'm serious!" he yelled. He couldn't believe that even in a situation like this, Joey still managed to be all stubborn.

"_Alright." _There was a sigh of frustration. _"Damn, people are really starting to freak out..."_

Swallowing heavily, Chandler could only just imagine pure chaos. It was surreal to stand there in his quiet office, just watching, listening to all the noise coming out of the cell phone. He cleared his throat when feeling tears in his eyes.

"How are you getting out of there?" he asked, attempting so sound calm.

"_Everyone's in panic! I don't think we'll get out of here right away. There's only one staircase. The other one's blocked."_

The door to Chandler's office was suddenly opened, and he looked over his shoulder, still keeping the phone close to his ear. One of his colleagues came into the room immediately.

"Have you seen it?" she asked, alarmed.

"Joey, hold on," he said quickly into the phone, then turning to his colleague. "Yeah, I've been watching it all from here."

"I think you should come and take a look at this," she said, leaving on her high heels, and Chandler followed after a brief moment of hesitation.

He felt his stomach curl up, when he watched the TV screen in the hall. In the bottom of the screen there was a sign of _NEWS LIVE COVERAGE _and the headline _World Trade Center, New York. _While the main screen was showing constant live pictures of the smoking buildings, the shaky voice-over burst out words. Unusually, the volume of the TV filled the entire room. Everyone covered their mouths, one person being more chocked than the other.

Unintentionally, Chandler had let the phone slide away from his ear. But now he realized that Joey might still be there, and therefore he quickly connected again.

"Joe?"

"_Yeah, I'm here." _The noise in the background was unbelievable. _"I think we're moving!"_

"Oh, thank god!" Chandler let out a loud sigh of relief. But he knew that this wasn't over yet. Not at all. "Remember to stay on the phone. I wanna make sure you make it outside."

"_Sure."_

They both went silent for a moment. Chandler faced the screen.

"_Are you watching?"_ Joey suddenly asked.

"Uh-huh."

"_What's it like?"_

"You sound very calm. That scares me." Dammit, Joey was _up there_!

"_Crap, there're too many people. The place is totally over-crowded!"_

Rubbing his face, Chandler could feel how his heart raced.

"I feel bad, Joe..." The words came out low and a little shaky.

"_Hey, everything's gonna be okay."_

"I can't believe you're actually saying that. This is not a game! You don't have more than one life here."

"_Jeez, I know, okay? I just... I'm trying to keep calm, even though it's pretty hard right now."_

"I know, I know." Chandler ran a hand through his hair. "Please just... hurry."

"_It'll take a while to get down all these sta- airs! Damn, this is not easy. Move!" _Joey sounded frustrated. But who could blame him?

Chandler bit his lip. His palms had started to sweat and his hands were trembling.

"Promise not to hang up. Please." He knew that his voice were full of concern.

"_I promise."_

Again, Chandler was left with nothing but loud noise.

"You remember where my office is, right?" he asked after a moment.

"_Not exactly," _Joey answered.

"Okay..." Chandler left his colleagues and went back to his office. "Okay, just move uptown." He reached the window once again and watched the view. "Follow an avenue."

"_Got it."_

"How far are you from the ground floor?"

"_I'm not s- Hey, watch out, man! Jeez..."_

"Are you alright?"

"_Yeah... Um, I just reached 23."_

"Good. That's good." It wasn't good, but Chandler knew that Joey couldn't move faster than he did. He pictured himself in the same situation. He wasn't going to tell him to hurry up more than necessary.

"_Have you talked to the others?"_

"Not yet. I called you because I knew you were-"

"_Maybe you should call them?"_ Joey's voice had started to get heavy, probably from the running.

"I'm not hanging up on you!" Chandler couldn't believe that Joey was asking him to do such a thing.

In the same moment, the phone in his office rang. He stared at it.

"Hold on," he told Joey before moving to his desk and picking up the phone, letting the other rest in a loose hand.

He didn't even get to say anything, before Monica's voice was there.

"_Chandler! Oh, thank god, I'm so glad you picked up. Have you seen it?"_

"Yeah... Thanks for calling. How're the others?"

"_Rachel, Ross and I are all here. Phoebe's on her way. Are you with Joey?"_

Chandler had to take a deep breath before answering.

"No, but I've got him on my cell phone... He's still there."

"_Oh god... No wonder that I couldn't reach your cell phone then. How's he holding up? Is he alright?"_

"They're on their way down. God, I don't know what to do..." He felt the tears welling up.

"_Chandler, listen, he's gonna be okay. I'm sure about that. Hey, 'you wanna come over here and join us? I think it would be the perfect time to... just being together." _He could tell that she tried to sound reassuring.

"I'll be there, just not yet. Look, I really have to get back to Joey now."

"_Sure. Call us, alright? And tell Joey that... you know."_

"I know." He hung up in the same moment and quickly held his cell phone back against his ear.

"I'm here. How's everything?"

"_We slowed down for a moment, but we're moving again. I'm at 7 now... I should really start working out a lot more."_

Chandler actually found himself smiling a little at that statement. Even in a situation like this, Joey managed to joke around. That was really one of the things that Chandler adored him for.

"Monica told me to say hi. They're all worried about you."

"_Did you need to tell them? Now they won't relax for one minute."_

"Of course I had to! I couldn't just lie."

"_Nah..."_

They went silent. Chandler felt the tears again.

"Joey, I love you," he said. He knew it was stupid. It was like an early goodbye. He didn't know why he said it. He just wanted Joey to know.

"_And I love you!" _He assumed that Joey had to yell the words because of the noise which Chandler was left with once again. Once in a while, he sensed Joey's breathing.

"_We made it." _The words were music to Chandler. Joey was finally one step closer.

"Great." Again, he found himself just looking at the towers, resting his palm against the window. After a moment, Joey spoke to him again. He sensed sounds of traffic in the background.

"_Damn, all traffic has just stopped! Oh my god..."_

"What is it?" Chandler leaned more heavily on the phone, looking down.

"_It's... Oh shit, Chandler, this is bad!"_

"What's wrong?" Chandler stared blankly into the distant.

"_There're people jumping up there! Shit! Chandler..." _The voice was just pure chocked and lost, cracking in the end.

"Get away from there!" Chandler was almost furious. Not at Joey but just at the world – at the entire situation. "Try to stay calm and start moving!"

"_Yeah... Yeah, sure." _For the first time, Joey actually sounded panicked.

In the background, Chandler could now hear screams and voices and beeps and sirens from the traffic. On one hand, he was glad that Joey had made it so far. On the other, he suddenly became aware of how far away Joey still was. His fingers curled on the window.

"Joey, keep talking to me," he said. "How's everything down there?"

"_It's basically a huge mess."_

"I can imagine."

Suddenly, a sound of connecting objects exploded close to the phone.

"_OW! Crap! Mmh..."_

"Joey? Joey, what happened?" Chandler leaned in, looking at the floor.

"_Something... God, something hit me!"_

"Are you okay?" His voice cracked slightly.

Joey hissed in the other end of the line.

"_I think so... God dammit! I'm bleeding."_

"Where're you hurt?" Chandler walked away from the window.

"_My- Ngh, my shoulder... It hurts!"_

"Remember to keep moving!" The words were almost yelled out. "Don't stop."

"_Shit... Mmh..."_

Chandler couldn't handle the pained noises. He turned to the window again. Dammit, Joey was out there, hurt and scared and... No, he wouldn't imagine losing Joey. It was too painful. Joey wasn't going to die. Not now, not right there, not in that way.

"Joey, I'm right here with you." He tried to reassure his lover.

"_I- I know._" There was something in Joey's voice that Chandler didn't hear quite often. It was the voice of pointlessness, exhaustion and defeat.

Chandler's eyes widened suddenly, as the southern tower started collapsing.

"Oh my god! Joey, run!"

"_What... Oh god."_

"RUN!" Chandler had ended up against the window again. "RUN!" He yelled of his full power, even though he knew that his voice couldn't help Joey.

He listened closely. The screams had suddenly become much louder.

"Joe? Are you there?"

"_Chandler!"_

"Get into a building!" Chandler screamed. "Doesn't matter which one! Save yourself!" There was a bunch of noises, as he listened closely once again. His eyes were wide open, angst and panic written all over his face.

It happened in a snap. He heard a cough followed by a huge scream of terror. It cut itself into his brain, and he felt his tears spill at last.

"JOEY!"

Side 11 af 11


	2. Chapter 2

Stay With Me (chapter 2)

Joey/Chandler (Friends)

After being knocked off his feet by the huge blow, Joey quickly covered his head with his arm, even though his injured shoulder sent a wave of pain through his arm and back. He clutched the cell phone in his hand, as pieces from the falling tower and what not covered him almost completely. The noise was like thunder. He held his breath because of the dust that filled the air.

It all happened so fast, and when everything seemed to have quieted down, he realized that he was stuck. He couldn't move his legs. But he didn't seem to be hurt further.

Slowly, he moved his arms away from his head as far as he could, groaning at the pain in his shoulder. With his eyes half-closed, he blew some dust away from his lips and decided to get back to the call.

"Ch- Chandler?" He let out a cough.

"_Joey? Oh, thank god..." _Judged by Chandler's cracking voice, Joey could tell he was happy and yet chocked. _"Are you- Are you alright?" _There was a sniff.

"Sort of," Joey answered, looking around. There were only bricks, metal and rocks all over. The place was dark apart from tiny cones of light that went through the dusty air.

"_What do you mean sort of?"_

"I'm stuck."

"_Where are y-"_

"Please tell me it was both of them."

There was a pause in the other end of the line followed by Chandler's guilty voice.

"_It wasn't."_

Joey let out a soft whimper. He knew that if the second tower hadn't collapsed yet, it would only get worse, and it would get even more difficult to get out of there. He closed his eyes again, breathing out.

"I can't believe this is happening," he said lowly.

"_Me neither. God, I'm so happy to hear your voice. I thought..."_ The words were followed by a deep, shaking sigh.

"Chandler, I'm getting out of here. You'll see me again soon." Joey didn't know how much to believe in his own words. He had no idea whether he would ever get out of there. "Maybe... Maybe we should hang up for a little while."

"_No!"_ Chandler sounded furious.

"Look, I don't want the phone to run low on power, alright? I wanna be able to call you in emergencies."

"_But-"_

"Chandler, listen to me!" Joey raised his voice unintentionally, before he sighed. "If all the power's being used now... What if I'm gonna be stuck for like... a while?"

"_And when the second tower goes down?"_ Chandler asked after a moment of silence.

"Hey, I didn't say we should stop talking at all. Why don't you..." He couldn't help the moan that escaped him. Lying on his side in a bad pose was already starting to bother him.

"_Joe?"_

"Tell the others that I'm alright. They're probably all freaked out by now." He let out a quiet laugh but ended up coughing instead. Damn the dust.

"_Sure. But Joe..."_

"Yeah?"

"_Be careful."_

"Like I would be able to run anywhere and play stupid..."

"_You know what I mean!" _Chandler was angry, Joey could tell. He decided to quit fooling around.

"I know... I love you." He kept his eyes closed.

"_I love you, too. I'll call you, when I find a police officer who can help."_

"That's good..." Joey opened his eyes slightly. "Bye, Chandler."

"_... Buy, Joey."_

Hanging up, Joey let his hand with the phone rest against the ground. Everything went unbelievably quiet.

The thought of so many people being out there hit him. Without doubt, there were many others who were stuck under bricks or even had died already. _So many lives..._ He closed his eyes, trying to clear his mind. But the feeling of all the material against his body didn't make it easy. This was real. It was no joke.

He tried to move again but to no use. No way was he digging himself out of there, when one of his arms was stuck underneath him. He was just completely locked up. His only life line was the free hand with the phone. He already considered calling Chandler again, not liking the silence and loneliness.

Suddenly, when the thunder returned, Joey's eyes went wide open. It quickly came closer, and he found himself covering his head again, this time accidentally dropping the phone. Another heap of materials rushed over the surface and blocked even more of the already weak light. The little room there was left was again filled with thick dust. Suddenly, while it all happened, he felt his leg being crushed by the bricks that now gave way, and he screamed in pain. It felt as if the leg was being ripped apart.

He drew a shaky breath before letting out a loud groan of pain, as everything went silent once again. Small rocks fell down from above him, sending a clicking sound across the ground as they hit other rocks.

Joey found himself trembling horribly, when he uncovered his head again. Squeezing his eyes tightly shut, he felt tears running out of his eyehooks. How could this be true? The pain was insane. He really wanted to be strong, but he couldn't fight it. Not this. He couldn't move. He almost couldn't breathe. His leg was most likely broken. And his already injured shoulder was being pressed violently against bricks. This was hell.

Suddenly, the phone started ringing, but he couldn't see it. He made an effort to rummage the rocks and finally managed to draw it to his eyesight. He flipped it open immediately, his voice heavy.

"Chandler..." The name came out as a moan.

"_Joey, the other tower just-"_

"Yeah, I sensed- that."

"_Are you alright down there?" _

"I'm just- peachy..." His leg hurt too much.

"_Joe? What's wrong?"_

"Dammit... I- I think my leg's broken. It just all started crushing down on me..."

Joey sensed sounds of cars in the other end of the line.

"Where the hell are you?" he asked.

"_I'm looking for a police officer, remember?" _

Breathing out, Joey put the phone on speaker and placed it back onto the rocks just beside his head with a still trembling hand.

"Any- luck?" The pain was burning.

"_Would I still be looking then?"_ Candler sounded frustrated.

"You're right," Joey croaked before coughing.

"_God, I wish I could just be there with you..."_

"Don't be stupid!"

"_I mean it! I don't like the fact that you're alone down there. If we'd just been together in this-"_

"Yeah, but we're _not_ together in this. Luckily! You should not wish to be here. It's hell. It's like I'm- dead already." He closed his eyes at the pain, as he forced out the words.

Chandler went silent. Joey assumed that he didn't know what to say.

"_... Oh, finally! Hold on, Joey." _There was a slight tone of joy in Chandler's voice.

Joey sensed Chandler in the background and listened closely. He couldn't make sense of the words, though. Suddenly, there was a scraping sound followed by an unknown voice.

"_This is NYPD officer Walker. Who am I talking to?"_

"Joey Tribbiani," Joey said lowly. "You've probably heard of me. I was Dr. Drake Remoray on Days of Our Lives." If he absolutely had to be stuck down there, he could just as well run on the last pride he had left.

"_Alright..." _The voice was hesitating. _"Where are you?"_

"I'm- I'm not sure." Joey kept his voice down.

"_How're you holding up?"_

"Honestly? I've been- better." A new wave of pain rushed over him.

"_Do you have the slightest idea where you might be?"_

So many questions.

"I don't know," Joey hissed, biting his teeth tightly shut before breathing out, relaxing once again. "But I'm not far from the towers... Or the towers that aren't there anymore."

"_So you're in the middle of everything?"_

"I don't know!" Joey was pissed. He knew that the officer was just trying to help him, but being stuck and in pain really started to annoy him. "Sorry."

"_Don't worry about it. Look, I'm not going in there by myself, but I'll call someone who can help, okay?"_

"Yeah..." Joey bit his lip. God, he wanted so badly to get out of there.

"_And one more thing; if you hear any voices, it'll most likely be someone who's there to look for survivors, so I suggest that you make some signs that you're down there. And hereby I mean yell out for help, got it?"_

"You bet." He attempted to sound pleased, but he couldn't hide the insecurity in his voice. "Can I just talk to my... buddy again?"

"_Sure..."_

There was a clicking sound, before Joey heard Chandler's voice again.

"_Joey?"_

"M-hm?" Joey had closed his eyes again because of the tears. It was horrible to hear Chandler but not see him.

"_... You're not alright at all. I sense it."_

Letting out an ironic chuckle, Joey let some tears spill.

"You know... The phone's soon... out of power." He started trembling miserably. Damn it all.

There was a sigh of hopelessness in the other end of the line.

"_Joe..." _A sniff. _"You'll... You get out of there, you h-hear me?" _Chandler was at the edge of sobbing, Joey could tell.

"Please don't cry. I can't take it!" Shutting his eyes tightly, Joey found himself whimpering. He didn't even know why. It wasn't like they had to say goodbye or anything. They just had to cut off all contact... _God dammit all. _He sniffled.

Painful seconds of silence passed, before Chandler spoke.

"_I l-"_

The phone went dead.

"No! NO!" Joey fumbled with the phone, realizing it was out. He tried everything to turn it back on but failed.

Dropping the phone, he sobbed, covering his face in his hand. It was so unfair, just completely unfair.

When he felt the pain again, he let out a yell of frustration which simply was suffocated by the bricks around him.

Chandler's voice was stuck in his head, every single word. They were so clear, so real and yet so hurting. Joey had never been good at doing without Chandler. And now that he seemed so far away and so unreachable, it hurt even more not seeing him, not being with him, feel him, kiss him.

He let out a shaky breath. This couldn't go on. It simply couldn't.

Side 8 af 8


	3. Chapter 3

Stay With Me (chapter 3)

Joey/Chandler (Friends)

"Can we just turn that off?" Monica asked from the kitchen, referring to the TV which showed the latest news about the disaster around World Trade Center.

"You know, it's actually very important and quite interesting," Ross said, not looking at his sister, as he was sitting on the couch next to Rachel.

"I agree with Monica," Phoebe said and got up from her chair in the kitchen. "It's really depressing."

"We've been watching it for _hours_ now. It'll continue to be awful." Monica's voice was irritated but also sad. She busied herself, so she wouldn't focus on the screen.

In the armchair close to the TV, Chandler had pulled his legs up. He stared blankly at the screen, once in a while forgetting to blink. Since he and Joey lost contact, his cell phone had been stuck in his hand, and he hadn't been able to do more than three-word sentences. He felt hollow – like nothing mattered, except for Joey being stuck in the ruins.

"Yeah," Rachel sighed, "Mon, you're right. Let's just-"

"Oh, shut up!"

Everyone stared at Chandler after his outburst. He hadn't changed position or expression. He just continued to be a wreck of emotions.

They were all frozen and silent for a moment. Ross and Rachel looked at each other, surprised. Monica suddenly spoke from the kitchen.

"It won't make things easier-"

"I DON'T CARE!" Chandler flipped his feet onto the floor, looking in Monica's direction furiously. God, she always wanted it _her_ way. She shouldn't tell him what was easy and what wasn't.

Again, the room was filled with a silent awkwardness. Monica turned around, carefully meeting Chandler's eyes. They were on fire.

Phoebe was the first one to begin to speak, keeping her voice low and gentle.

"Maybe we should call for a pizza." She turned to Monica, as she nervously wringed her hands together.

"I second that," Ross said to break some of the ice, looking at Phoebe, then Monica. He felt Rachel's hand on his shoulder in the same moment, probably telling him that he made the right decision.

Taking one quick look at the TV, Chandler got up from the chair, tugging the phone into his pocket.

"I'm just gonna go... do something," he said lowly, feeling guilty for yelling, as he walked across the room to the door.

A mess of his name being said in different ways filled the air.

"Please stay," Monica pleaded, taking a few steps towards Chandler, as he reached the door.

He eyed her angrily and yet sadly. It was hard for Monica to read. He flipped the door open, leaving without a word.

Sitting in the hallway on the single step, Chandler glared at the floor. His hands rested loosely in his lap. Once in a while, he could hear voices coming from Monica's and Rachel's apartment but apart from that, everything was quiet.

He eyed his and Joey's apartment door. No way was he going in there by himself. It was just too hard. He didn't want to see the place be all without Joey and yet so full of him. The thought that Joey might not come back was just simply unbearable. And not being able to speak to him was even worse. Maybe Joey was already dead. Maybe he wasn't. There was no way to tell.

Lost in thought, he suddenly heard a door open, but he didn't look up. Rachel's kind voice was there in a second.

"Hey there," she said softly, closing the door to the bright apartment whose light had filled the hallway for a short moment.

Chandler didn't say anything. He just kept looking at the floor miserably.

But his view was suddenly blocked by Rachel's legs, as she squatted down in front of him. She placed a comforting hand on his knee, and he looked further down not to meet her eyes that were full of pity. He felt bad for telling her to shut up earlier.

"He'll be alright," she said all of a sudden in a low, soothing voice.

It didn't comfort Chandler that much, though. He just kept looking down, fiddling a little with his fingers.

"Come back inside." Rachel rubbed Chandler's knee a little. "We'll get some pizzas and watch a movie. What about Die Hard? You guys like that, right?"

The title of Joey's favorite movie caused Chandler to meet her eyes briefly before looking back down. Tears were forming in his eyes, as he ran a hand through his hair. He didn't want to cry in front of her like a wimp.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry." Rachel seemed to notice how he had been touched by her words.

Chandler simply sniffled.

"Chandler?" Her voice was even gentler than before. "Chandler, honey, it's gonna be alright." She rubbed his knee again, but when no reaction was given, she moved up to him and wrapped her arms around him, holding him close to her chest.

Not reacting further, Chandler just leaned onto her and let some silent tears fall. They slid down his face, and he made no effort to wipe them away. He felt weak. He felt exhausted. He was hurt.

And even as Rachel was this close to him, the only person he could think of was Joey.

Monica put the last pizza box onto the kitchen table, turned around and watched the heavy-dark room for a moment. The TV screen was the only source of light, but it was bright enough to walk around without tripping on something.

Rachel had gone to bed about an hour ago, and Ross and Phoebe had just left the apartment silently. Because in the armchair, Chandler had pulled his legs over the armrest and was now fast asleep. He had only eaten half as much as he used to, seeming unbelievably tired, and this concerned Monica a lot.

She moved to the chair, taking a look at her sleeping friend. He looked peaceful after all. She smiled sadly and pulled out a blanket which she carefully covered him with. He didn't seem to notice anything at all but just kept snoring lightly.

It hurt to see Chandler like this. Monica couldn't think of a time where he had been this depressed ever. This just proved how much Chandler cared for Joey, how close they were. They really loved each other. She knew they did.

_Please, Joey, be alright. Be strong. Chandler needs you._

She studied Chandler for just a little longer before she turned off the TV and went to bed, making sure that Chandler's cell phone was in reach on the table.

"_... The morning's here... Sunshine is here... The sky is clear..._"

The words came out more like hoarse croaks than actually singing. Joey was too tired to sing properly. He basically did it only to stay awake and to try not to focus too much on the fact that everything around him was getting darker and that for every minute he started to feel more and more numb.

"_The morning's here... Get into gear..."_

Joey coughed so the dust swirled in front of his face. He was freezing and yet feeling sweaty, constantly trembling even though he was trying to stop.

It had been hours – hours of pure frustration, hours of tears, hours of pain and hours of loneliness. He hadn't stopped thinking about Chandler, how they had been on the phone together earlier. Though, he tried not to think too much of when the final call had died. It hurt too much.

Blinking heavily, he breathed out. Actually, he was not in too much pain at the moment, but his limbs were awfully asleep, and it felt as if he had gotten a fever.

Everything was just so quiet that it was scary. The only voice he seemed to hear was Chandler's in his mind – Chandler calling out for him, telling him to come home, pleading and begging. And every time, he had to tell him that it was no use – that he wasn't getting out of there.

It was no use. He could just as well close his eyes and go to sleep and never wake up again. But then again, he wanted to fight it. He wanted to go home and hold Chandler in his arms. He wanted to show him that everything was alright – that they could go on and forget about this.

He drew a breath.

Suddenly, he could hear something that he hadn't been able to hear for hours. Voices. Clear voices. They were above him, and he furrowed his brows. Could it be true? Were there actually people up there? Voices were suddenly so new to him.

A thin cone of yellow light went through one of the small cracks. There was definitely someone up there. Automatically, he smiled.

Chandler shot up from the chair immediately when his cell phone started ringing. He picked it up from the table quickly but had to gain some sense after feeling horribly dizzy. He turned on some light, as the phone managed to ring once more before he answered.

"Hello?" His voice was tired but still eager.

In the same moment, Rachel and Monica came out of their rooms, stopping just outside the doors. They had both been wakened by the ringtone.

"Yes?" Chandler said, looking at the girls and pausing for a brief moment before letting out a breath of pure relief. "Thank god!"

Monica met Rachel's eyes. They were completely aware of what was going on, and therefore they came closer to Chandler, already smiling widely.

"Where... Alright, where're you taking him?" Chandler gazed into nothing. "Alright, I'll be right there." He hung up and looked at the girls, flinging out his arms and grinning, his voice full of joy. "They found him."

Covering her mouth, Rachel let out a squeak.

"Yes!" Monica exclaimed in the same moment, her voice high-pitched.

Both of the girls fell into Chandler's open arms, hugging him tightly.

Chandler almost found himself sobbing happily. It was too good to be true. Someone had actually found Joey. He felt his heart leaping.

The girls let go of him again.

"We're going with you," Monica said, smiling widely.

"Yeah," Rachel agreed, "I'll just call Ross." She already turned to get the phone.

"And I'll call Phoebe!" Monica went for her cell phone.

Chandler let out a chuckle and smiled at his friends.

"He's gonna be happy to see all of us, I'm sure." Tears were filling his eyes. This time, they were tears of happiness.

"Joey, will you just _stop_ mocking me about the tie?"

"What? I'm just saying it looks a bit old school!"

"Well, it _is _an old tie but I like it."

"Well, _hello grandpa." _

"Stop it!" Chandler slapped Joey's shoulder, though chuckling softly at the joke.

Joey giggled cheekily.

"You know I love you." He put on an innocent face, smiling at Chandler.

"Thank god you're pretty," Chandler said with a sigh, tossing a small piece of paper into a garbage can, as they walked by.

Hugging his midsection, Joey slightly shuttered at the cold wind.

"Are we there yet?" he asked.

"I can't _believe _you still don't know where I work." Chandler didn't sound amused.

"They all look the same, okay?" Joey looked around, proving his point.

Chandler shook his head and smiled, as he looked down at the damp sidewalk. "Half a minute."

Joey nodded to himself.

"Hey," he said all of a sudden, "I've told you about that audition today, right? At four?"

"No?" Chandler looked at his lover after briefly dodging a man walking past him. "What's the part?"

"Nah," Joey shrugged, "just a leading role in an action movie." He grinned at Chandler.

"What?" Chandler was blown away. "That's great!" He leaned to the side and wrapped his arm around Joey's shoulders, kissing his cheek. "I'm proud of you."

"Well, it's still an audition, and there're a lot of great guys up for the part-"

"Bullshit! You'll get the part, Joe." Chandler smiled reassuringly.

"You think?"

"I _know_."

Joey blushed and looked into Chandler's eyes.

"Thanks."

Chandler smiled back.

"Oh, we're here!" he said and walked confidently towards the entrance.

Stopping abruptly on the sidewalk, Joey looked up. God, the building seemed so unbelievably high. Suddenly, it felt like his insides were turning, and he swallowed heavily. Why was this so hard? He could easily follow Chandler. Why had he stopped?

Realizing that he had lost Joey, Chandler turned around.

"Hey, Joe!" he called out, considering Joey was suddenly far away and the traffic was going crazy in front of the building. "Are you coming?"

Joey looked at him with wide, empty eyes.

Side 9 af 9


End file.
